Sweet Shit Round Up
July 2020
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Oh hey, it’s the last day of July! We’re finally over halfway through 2020 and it feels both like we’ve lived this year for a lifetime and also just a few days. If you haven’t heard, THESE ARE WEIRD TIMES!!!
But I’ve rounded up all the sweet shit I found this month and hope you’ll find a thing or two in it to make these times a little less weird for you.
Books
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins
- I’m about to make a controversial statement. The Hunger Games series is better than the Harry Potter series. There. I said it. Also, as far as my limited research goes, Suzanne Collins isn’t out here being transphobic so that’s another one in the pro HG column. The latest installment in the series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is a prequel set 64 years before Katniss enters the arena and follows a young Coriolanus Snow (future evil af president of Panem) as he must mentor the female District 12 tribute (of course) during the 10th Hunger Games. This book really shows how the games become the moneymaking bloodbath we know them as in the original series and I love seeing that Snow has never really been likable or understood empathy. Def a nature over nurture situation going on there.
Music
Gaslighter - The Chicks
- Natalie Maines is my hero. I aspire to be as outspoken as she is when it comes to things that matter AND people who’ve done me wrong. Gaslighter is the first album the Dixie Chicks have put out under their new moniker, The Chicks, as well as their first album in 14 years. It. Was worth. The wait. It mostly documents the downfall of Maines marriage and honestly…anyone who can marry the front woman of the band responsible for ‘Goodbye Earl’ and STILL cheat on her deserves to have this (surely soon to be) award winning album written about them. Also the strings in the back half of ‘March March’ gave me literal chills and that shit never happens. Go listen to the whole album on Spotify immediately!
Video Games
- You might remember a round up from a few months ago where I declared my love for Far Cry 5, the Ubisoft game set in fictional Hope County, Montana as they struggle to resist a cult takeover lead by the charismatic and forever shirtless Joseph Seed. Well this month, a big ol’ Playstation store sale let us add a few more Far Cry series titles to our collection and this was our first stop. Far Cry New Dawn is an immediate sequel to Far Cry 5 set 20ish years in the future. I don’t want to spoil the ending to 5 so I’ll just say you’re back in Hope County with some familiar faces and a new outlaw gang to take on. It’s not as good as Far Cry 5 but it is cool for characters from that game to be brought back into this one so we can see how their stories turn out.
- A lot of Far Cry fans claim Far Cry 3 to be their favorite of the series and I know Michael Mando (Better Call Saul) kinda steals the show as the antagonist Vaas but otherwise…this entry is pretty fine. Don’t get me wrong, it was worth the play since Vaas is an iconic character of the series and this is the installment that introduces a lot of characters that come back into play over the next four Far Cry games, it also didn’t hurt that it only cost $3.00 in the Playstation store, but overall this one didn’t beat out 5 in my book.
TV
The Order
- Witches. Werewolves. Secret organizations. The Order has it all. Plus, it’s also some of the most realistic and funny writing I’ve heard come out of a teen supernatural drama in…well probably ever. Jack Morton (Jake Manley) is starting his freshman year at Belgrave University where he is on a mission to take down the man and secret, magic, organization that took his mother from him, The Hermetic Order of the Blue Rose. Of course, young love, thwarted plots, and unexpected complications arise for Jack on his quest for vengeance. I hadn’t even really heard about this show and the first season came out March 2019 but ya girl loves magic AND a teen supernatural drama so I ate this series up! If magic and teen dramas are your thing too, you can check out the first two seasons on Netflix now. Do it please so I can get a season 3….they love ending on a cliffhanger ya’ll!
The Umbrella Academy
- It’s rare that a show or movie so outdoes their source material and The Umbrella Academy is one of those shows. Based off the comic book series of the same name created and written by Gerard Way (yep, My Chemical Romance frontman, Gerard Way) the show follows a group of adopted siblings all born on the same day to different mothers around the world who weren’t pregnant when the day began. Oh, and they all have superpowers. It’s. So. Much. Fun. Each character is memorable from their powers to their personalities and I’m constantly changing who my favorite is. The soundtrack is awesome too! Season 2 is out on Netflix today so if you haven’t had a chance to check out season 1 I HIGHLY suggest making it your binge show for this weekend.
Youtube
- Emmmmy! Jonathan and I both love Emmy of emmymadeinjapan. She makes wild stuff that you try to pass by but then you end up being like…why you making that pork and gumdrop cake, Emmy? And you get sucked into her world. She’s a lot of fun to watch and doesn’t edit out her mess ups which is endearing. Lovers of cooking shows who like learning about interesting and different foods should definitely head to her channel!
- I love a gorgeous girl who’s kinda weird, just ask my friend Kait. Mykie, the beauty and special effects makeup artist behind Glam & Gore, feels like an old friend every time I watch her videos. She combines horror and beauty to create pretty cool looks but also dives into ghost hunts, true crime, and overall weird shit. She’s got a great video about LRADs (which are terrifying) and one in the works about the JonBenet murder so go check her out if you’re into that sorta thing!
- Competitive eating is amazing. They eat so much! So fast! Why? How? Also why do we rarely see fat people taking part? But I digress. I don’t know how we found Katina Eats Kilos but we got kinda hooked on her channel. If you’ve ever watched Man vs Food you’ll understand what she’s about. She’s a small gal who loves a big food challenge. It’s both gross and fascinating to watch. She’s also pretty good about not being a messy eater which I’m grateful for. While writing this we watched Katina take on this ridiculous seafood challenge from a place in Alaska and honestly….I’m full from it. Head to her channel to see what other wild amounts of food she takes on.
- This month, we’ve ramped up our before bed spooky time to not just listening to unsettling stories as we drift off to sleep but also watching scary ass videos before we go to bed. It’s a choice. Nuke’s Top 5 showed up after we went searching for creepy urban explorer videos and it has yet to disappoint. This channel is full of, well, top 5 videos all centered around spooky dooky clips found on the internet. Whether you believe in mysterious creatures and ghosts or not, this channel is a lot of fun to scare yourself with. AND Nuke does a good job of pointing out what it is that’s unexpected or creepy with a helpful “did you see it?” cause ya know what…sometimes I didn’t see it and I appreciate the help.
Products
- Candles are cool. They make a room smell nice, they add a little coziness to the place, and they help it be a little less creepy when the power goes out. But I wouldn’t call myself a candle fanatic. I rarely buy candles for myself and most of the ones I own were gifts from years ago. So for me to actively buy my own is kind of a big deal. Evil Queen candles is a small business based out of LA that sells 100% soy wax candles with sassy names and lovely scents. The founder, Ida-Sofia, is cute, relatable, and has put together a product that is worth every penny. The fragrance is light and doesn’t overwhelm the space, the burn is clean, and the packaging is on point. Evil Queen is currently sold out while they transition to a distribution center but will hopefully be back and restocked sometime in August so be sure to join their email list to stay updated on when you can get your hands on these candles!
- After spending the beginning of this month doing a whole house purge, which you can read about here, the rest of July (and probably August) has been devoted to organizing the mess we made. These cube storage shelves have been so convenient to help our small space feel a little more pulled together. You don’t need any tools to put them together and you can set them up in a multitude of ways to fit your space best. We have one set we use for towels and my craft supplies and Jonathan uses a set for his clothes and miscellaneous storage. They’re pretty sturdy but have come undone a time or two when we’ve tried moving them around with our stuff still on them so keep that in mind. But otherwise, it’s amazing how much better it feels to have shelves for our stuff instead of piles on the floor.
- Sticking with that organizational momentum this month, we got ourselves a label maker to play with! Jonathan has wanted one of these for a while so the fact that we’re trying to clean up the joint really worked as a motivator to pick one up. The quality of the labels are really nice and the machine itself is hella quiet, I never notice when it’s being used unless I’m physically looking at it so that’s pretty rad. You do need 6 AAA batteries to get it up and running (which is so many AAA batteries) but then you’re well on your way to labeling every square inch of your space and how fun is that!
Miscellaneous
My Wife and I Bought a Ranch by VatoCabron
- This Reddit story came to my attention after it was announced on Monday that Netflix bought the rights to it for seven figures! That’s….such a crazy amount of money. But honestly, the story is probably worth it. The story follows a couple who buy a ranch in the mountains (believe it) and discover there’s some weird rituals they’ll have to take part in to stay safe on their new land. You can read it yourself here on the No Sleep subreddit or, if you prefer to listen to your spooky stories, check it out here from the Youtube channel Dead Man Talkings Forest of Fear.
What fun and exciting stuff did you get into this month? Got any questions or want more info about anything on this month’s list? Leave a comment down below
